Centrifugal drier



July 29, 1924.

H. C. LAW

CENTRIFUGAL DRIER 2 Sheets-Shea?, 2

' Filed March 26'. i921 Patented July 29, 1924.

UNITED STATES HARRY C'. LAW, 0F HAS'IINGS UPON HUDSON, YORK.

CENTRIFUGAL DRIER.

Application filed March 26, 1921. Serial No.' 456,001.

To all lwhom it may Gomera:

Be it known that I, HARRY C. LAw, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Hastings upon Hudson, in the county of Westchester and Stateof New York, have made .and invented certain new and useful Im rovementsinA Centrifugal Driers, of whlch the following is a specification. Myinvention relates to a centrifugal drier, and particularly to that typeof machine as used in laundries. l

An object of the inventionwis to provide a centrifugal. drier which isso constructed that the tub will be driven at ahigh'speed and with aminimum'amount of,v vibration andlfriction, thus providing for thesmooth and effective operation of the de vicel A further object is toprovide an im- )roved centrifugal drying machine where- 1n the tub isdriven in a smooth andl quiet lnanner, at high speed, and without dangerof undue .forces or stresses being exerted upon the driving motor andthus protect it from being burnt out or excessively overloaded.

A further object is to provide an improved drying machine wherein thetull may be quickly and eectively stopped after the drying of theclothes or laundry has been accomplished.

A further object is to provide a drying machine having a tub supportedupon and rotated by a vertically mounted shaft, the latter beingsupported by a single bearing, which allows the shaft to oscillate andthus seek its own center and to provide in connection with the foregoinga friction clutch for driving the shaft, and a frictionbrake forchecking the rotation of the shaft after the drying of the articles inthe tub has been accomplished; the` foregoing features being carried outin a simple and eEective manner, embodying but few parts, and sodesigned as to require a minimum amount of attention in operation andupkeep.`

A further object is to 'accomplish the aforementioned ends in a simpleand effective manner, to provide an improved form of vertical rockingbearing for the vertical shaft, so that' it may be maintained normallyin an upright position, and the resilient force by which this is carriedout may be Varied or adjusted.

A further object is to provide an article of the above-mentionedcharacter wherein the motor isautomatically thrown out of circuit by theopening of the lid of the casing surrounding the tub, so that the entiredevice will require a minimum amount of attention for its operation.

vA further object is to provide an improved form of `driving mechanismwhereb the tub may be gradually accelerated an thus prevent undue loadbeing brought to bearvvupon the motor during device'.`

With the foregoing and other objects vin view, my invention consistsinthe'improved centrifugalv drier illustrated in the accompanying drawingsand hereinafter described and ,claimed,fand in such variations andmodifications thereof as will be obvious to' the starting .of the thoseskilled in the art to which myinven- 'Figure 2 is a View in horizontalsection taken on the line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Referring lto the several views, wherein slmilar reference numeralsdesignate corresponding parts throughout, my improvedl laundry dryingmachine (which, however, may be used for the separation of cream or forother Vsimilar purposes for which centrifugal machines of the hereindescribed type have heretofore been used) is formed with a base 10 whichsupports a casing 11 thereabove by the upstanding pillars or rods 12.Located within the casing 11 is-the usual type of centrifugal laundrytub 13 which is mounted for rotation on the shaft 14, the latterextending through an opening 15 in the base of the casing 11 and adaptedto rock or oscillate without interfering-'With the side walls of theopening 15.

It is necessary that the tub 13 be rotated or driven at high speed, andin order that this may be accomplished Without undue friction orvibration, even though the material within the tub be so arranged thatits center of gravity does notfcoincide with'the axis of the shaft 14, Ihave provided the particular form of bearing as illustrated in Figure 1,wherein the base is formed with the upstandin housing 16, which isprovided interme iate its ends, and projecting inwardly, with the ledge17 having the up- (tical shaft, and in connection with the opening 21properly hold the shaft 14 for rotation when 1n a vertical position.

The upper extremity of the housing 16 is threaded as at 23, and receivesa n-ut 24 therein, the latter bearing against a comression spring 25-whizhA impin at its ower extrem-ity'a ainst the shoul er 19 carried bytheourna member 20. Thus as 'the nut 24 is orcibly4 screwed into place, the

s ring 25 will be compressedv and considerf a le ressure brought to bearupon the shoul er 19 and tending to hold it and the shaft 14 in avertical position, although allowing it to oscillate .or rockslightlyand thus prevent undue vibration of the tub and shaft, valthoughthe former be eccentrically loaded.` -In order 'that the foregoing maybe more effectively carried out, the upper and lower convolutions l26 of.the spring :are

round flat so as to bear upon the two surfaces almost entirelythroughout the first convolution. A chamber is defined between thecasing 16 and, lying above the shoulder 19, which may be packed withgrease or other lubricant and which will not only lubricate the socketjoint between the journal member and A,its support, but will also workits way through the openings or -diicts 27 kwith which the 'ournalmember is-provided,

and will thus lu ricate the entire bearing.

` Mounted upon the base 10 is abracket 28 and to which is -securedanelectric motor 29 having its shaft 30 extending substantiallyhorizontally or at right angles to the vertical tub supporting shaft 14.A friction wheel or clutch 31 1s splined .to the shaft 30 andfrictionally engages and is adapted to drive the friction wheel 32carried by the shaft |14.` A compression spring 33 is mounted upon themotor'shaft, bears against a collar -34 at its one extremity and againstthe friction clutch wheel 31. e spring is thus adapted to maintain thefriction clutch wheel in engagement with the friction wheel 32 andforcibly drive the latter, the action being more effectively carried out"by the presence of a friction facing material 35 with which thefriction wheel 32 is provided. A clutch lever 36 engages a groove 37formed in the clutch wheel 31, and is pivotally mounted as at 38 by thesupport or column 39, the forward end 40 of theclutch lever belngconnected to a foot treadle 41 by the l connecting link or bar" 42. Thefoot treadle facing 35 in the plane of the socket juncture 18-19, sothat although the -shaft 14 oscillates slightly about the socket 18-19,a substantial feet will be had between the friction clutch wheels 3132.Also the cup shape friction wheel 32 provides a most effectiveprotection against the entrance of water or foreign material-intotheshaft bearing, s'o that the latter-may be packed with grease or otherlu bricant and will remain in proper operable condition for along periodwithout attention. The hub 43 is provided with the conical surface 44adapted to act as a friction wheel and, in connection with the frictionbrake shoe 45, constitutes a most 'eiiicient brake. The brake shoe 45 iscarried by the brake lever 46, the latter being pivoted as at 47 to thecolumn or support '39, and has its forward extremity 48 attached to theclutch y'uniform' driving or frictional eflink 42, so that as the foottreadle 41 is de-n l pressed, as `indicated in dotted lines, thefriction clutch will be disengaged andthe friction brake brought intoplay, rapidly and effectively .checking the motion of the tub, and allof which is accomplished without undue stresses or strains being broughtto .bear upon the rotata'bleand oscillatable shaft 14. Both the clutchlever` 36 and the brake lever 48, as well as the brake shoe 45, are madein two sections, so that they may be disengaged and, removed from theirrespective positions orassembled in place without disturbing the shaft14 and its accessory parts. T' e foot treadle 41 is adapted to shiftslight y, as well as turn upon its pivot pin 49, so that when indepressed position it may pass beneath a pin 50 and be held in loweredposition. With the foot treadle in lowered position, the brake will berigidly applied and the shaft will accordingly be sup rted and heldagainst bothv4 rotation an oscillation or shifting, so that the materialmay be readily removed from the ftu'b or inserted in place withoutdisturbing thev vertical alinement of the shaft. -F urther, the coneshaped surface of the brake wheel and brake shoe provides that each timethe brake is applied the shaft 14 will be brought to proper centralposition, so that should the oscillation of the tub become too violentdue to the excessive eccentric loading, the slight/application of theIbrake will not only tend to decrease the speed of the tub but electricswitch 53 is carried by a bracket 54a mounted u 'n the casin andarranged in the path o movemento the lid 52, so that should the lid bethrown back forcibly against the switch 53, the electriccircuit '55,which includes the motor 29, will be opened and the motor stopped.' Thiscomplete stopping of the motor, however, will not always be necessaryand the lid 52 may be merely thrown into an upright position withoutopening the electric circuit.

I have found that with the parts as thus arranged there will be" nodanger or likelihood of the motor being overloaded or burnt out due to asuddent application of the load; further, Vthat the bucket will beaccelerated in a quiet though rapid manner; that the particular supportof the shaft and tub allows it to rotate at a hi h speed and withoutundue vibration even t ough the tub b eccentrically loaded; and'that thevarious other features as herein pointed out combine to form a veryefiicient and serviceable drier or centrifugal extractor.

Having thus described andA explained my invention, I claim and-desire tosecure by Letters Patent:

A machine of the class described comprising an upright shaft adapted tosupport a drum or tub thereon, a journal member rotatably receiving saidshaft therein and provided with a thrustv bearing support therefor, ahousing, said housing and said journal member provided with a ball andsocket joint for the support of the journal member, resilient meansimpinging upon the journal member and forcing it to seat upon the balland socket joint provided therefor in said housing, an invertedcup-shaped member carried by said shaft extending over the said houslnoand lower periphery o member acting as a horizontally dis osed frictionwheel, the upper extremity o said cup-shaped member provided with aconical braking surface, a shaft mounted at right' angles to thefirst-mentioned shaft, a friction wheel carried thereby, means forrerotecting the same, the the inverted cup-shaped silientl'y forcing thesecond 'friction Wheel v againstv'the friction wheel of the.first-mentioned shaft, a brake member adapted to engage the conicalbrakino` 'surface carried by the first-mentioned shaft, and means op-`erably engaging said brake member and the second-mentioned frictionwheel and adapt-` ed to apply ythe brake member to the brake surface andsimultaneously move the friction wheels apart, said means furtheradapted to release the brake member with respect to said brake surfaceand to simultaneously bring the said friction wheels together.

Signed at Hastings upon Hudson, in the county of Westchester and Stateof New York, this 10 day of March, A. D. 1921.`

HARRY C. LAW. Witnesses: v

j FRED. Gonmon, FRED. SCHMIDT.

